IMPATIENS. -> BALSAMINE ZA. 135. 
late : anthers 2-celled. Ovarium solitary, 5-celled : ovules usually nu- 
merous, rarely few in each cell, suspended: stigmas 5, sessile, distinct 
or more or less united.. Fruit capsular, 5-celled (the dissepiments 
usually disappearing), rarely (in the drupe) solitary, 5-valved, elastically 
septifrage; or a 5-celled drupe. Seeds several in each cell. Albu- 
men 0, Embryo straight: radicle next the hilum: cotyledons plano- 
convex.—Succulent herbaceous plants. Leaves simple, opposite or al- 
ternate, exstipulate. Flowers axillary. 
IMPATIENS. Linn.; Lam. ill. t. 725 —Balsamina, Gertn. fr. t. 151. 
Sepals 5, apparently only 4 from the union of the two upper ones. Pe- 
tals 4, apparently only 2 from the union of each of the lower to each of the 
lateral ones. Filaments 5, more or less united at the apex : anthers opening 
longitudinally or transversely. Ovarium 5-celled ; cells formed by membra- 
nous projections of the placentæ which occupy the axis of the ovary and are 
connected with its apex by 5 slender threads. Capsule elastically 5-valved, - 
"os 1-celled by the disappearance of the dissepiments. Seeds numerous or 
w. 
, In the following specific characters we shall, for simplicity, call the pair 9f com- 
bined sepals a posterior sepal, and each pair of combined petals a single 2-lobed pe- 
tal. In some botanical works the lower sepal which is spurred is called a nectary, 
but is enerally viewed as a petal, and so is also the combined upper pair of sepals ; 
from which latter cause, and their being very petaloid, J. tripetala, Roxb. obtained 
its name.—We regret that we cannot vint the division into Im and Balsa- 
mina as defined by De Candolle. In the many species which we have examined, we 
have not in a single instance found 1-celled anthers: the circumstance of the stigmas 
being united or distinct seems quite independent of the mode of opening of the cap- 
sules, and is certainly independent of the habit assigned to the two genera of the 1- 
or many-flowered peduncles. Nor are we disposed to make use of the different de- 
hiscence of the fruit, unsupported by other permanent characters, from this other 
reason, that it cannot be observed unless the fruit be ready to burst, and. is lost the 
moment it does burst : this being of very little usein a practical point of view. But 
as it is desirable that the genus be divided, and as the species with alternate and 
ose with opposite leaves form two pretty distinct groups, we have arranged them 
accordingly : the former have the lateral sepals usually minute and caducous ; the 
tter about as long and often as permanent as the anterior and posterior ones. T. 
latifolia might thus fall into the first tribe, with which the habit, the fruit, and the 
leaves imperfectly opposite, better accord. The peduncles l- or many-flowered, may 
be for subdividing these sections, particularly as we have reason to suspect 
that corresponding differences exist in the mode of dehiscence of the anthers, com- 
med with the more or less perfect union of the filaments near the apex. For spe- 
cific characters, in addition to those we have mentioned as mee for sections, the 
size and shape of the upper pair of sepals, the shape of the lower sepal and that of 
the lobes of the united EO fora. together the best marks of distinction; but all 
the I require to be studied, for this purpose, when growing, the blossoms being 
usually too tender for such examination in the herbarium. Several of the followi 
characters, having been taken (when we had no materials of our own) from a hurri l 
inspection of specimens in the Linnean Society’s Indian herbarium, are imperfect 3 
we trust, however, that they will suffice for the discrimination of the species. 
$1. Leaves alternate ; pedicels axillary, solitary or several together, 1-flowered. 
442. (1) I. Balsamina (Linn.:) herbaceous, erect, simple; young shoots 
ry: leaves alternate, petioled, glabrous, acuminated at both ends, acutely 
and often deeply serrated : petioles glanduliferous, pubescent or hairy : pedi- 
. cels 1-2 or more, aggregate, densely pubescent, much shorter than the leaves : 
lateral sepals minute, lanceolate ; anterior one pubescent, infundibuliform, 
with a slender spur either longer or shorter than the flower: capsule ovate, 
tomentose and hairy with rigid shining (yellow) bristles. 
